Leg Two: Detroit to Toronto

The flight to Toronto was very fast, only an hour total in the air. It was very uneventful with no more hot fluids poured onto my body. We filled out the customs form. Fishy's laziness won out over his paranoia (see next entry for his quote of concern about both of us appearing on the same customs form) and he just added his name onto my form instead of filling out all of the info on his own separate form.

We went through customs when we arrived at Toronto. Fishy tried to get in to the line operated by the cute customs official, but another guy called us over to his line instead. He was businesslike but friendly, and we pretty much zipped through.

Almost right away once we got near the exit, this guy comes out of nowhere and tries to get us to ride on his shuttle bus. We was a little too Used-Car-Salesman-like, so i did my best (ultimately successful) to get rid of him. We ended up taking a taxi to the hotel instead for a few dollar more, but it saved over an hour in time, so it was worth it. The taxi was so nice! Clean, and it didn't have one of those awful walls that separate the passengers in the back seat from the driver. It was a very pleasant experience.

Oh, one more thing. While we were still in the airport, this woman's voice comes over the PA system and announces that a Catholic Mass will be held in a few minutes in Terminal 3. We were both like WTF?! In retrospect, it was probably being held because of the bombing in London today, but even so, that is just bizarre to 1) have a mass in the airport terminal, and 2) to announce it publically over the airport's PA system. I think people would probably picket the airport if that happened in America.

The hotel (Le Meridien, King Edward VII) is apparently a 4-star hotel. It's very attractive, but neither one of us is sure what exactly constitutes a 4-star hotel, other than perhaps the price. I mean, it's just a place you sleep and keep your crap while you're running around town. What special amenities would you expect a 4-star hotel to provide that a 3-star hotel or 2-star hotel wouldn't have? As long as I have a clean bed and my own bathroom, what more would I want?